Is it possible to change language for user interface temporarily?
I use Ubuntu 12.04 with German UI. However, when I ask questions here or anywhere else on Stack Exchange, and I am adding screenshots, I would prefer having them in English.
Thus, my question is: How can I change the language of a certain application, let's say Rhythmbox, to display in English for creating screenshots.
Note: I don't want to change it permanently, and I would prefer NOT to change it for all applications. Also, I would prefer not having to log out for finishing that task. It should be on the fly.
To temporarily run an application from a locale different to English in English language you may change the environment variable LANG_ALL, and then run the application from a terminal provided you had installed the different locale before:
LANG_ALL=en_GB rhythmbox # runs Rhythmbox with British English locale
LANG=C rhythmbox # runs Rhythmbox with system fallback locale, this is English
See also:
- How to override the system locale on a single command?
- Temporarily change language for terminal messages/warnings/errors
- Ubuntu Documentation Locale
Note that his will not work the other way round, i.e. if your system is set to English and you need to temporarily run an application in another locale. You will then have to override settings in the LANGUAGE environment variable:
- Why is overriding the LANG environment variable not changing the language for me?